KegLand Questions and Answers

[Ferg]

Thanks for that. As you can see from our website we advertise that the weight is +/- 10% which is the tolerance that the product is packed within. So I guess from that perspective we feel that it's advertised correctly as no bag of hops from us has less than 90grams and no more than 110grams.

Yes your website now states the tolerance but it didn't at the time of writing. I'm sure this was all just an oversight rather than an international plot to dupe people out of 10g worth of hops.. It's no biggie, send the guys a free bag of hops and set your measurements to 105g +/- 5% until you can dial it in. Then we can all move on!

By the way, how the hell have you sold out of icemasters? I was eyeing one off and they're all gone again - any update on new stock? Also looking forward to the canning gear when it's released!

 

[MetalRooster]

These are available now:
https://www.kegland.com.au/co2-gas-regulator-mk4-dual-gauge-multi-gas-type-30.html

My question was for the gauge guard for this reg, not the reg itself. It says the new gauge guard is sold separately, but I can't see it anywhere.

 

[malt and barley blues]

what do you think they are, if not a local home brew shop?

I don't think even they know, were they not supposed to be wholesalers?

 

[laxation]

I don't think even they know, were they not supposed to be wholesalers?

i dunno maybe i can help.

they are a home brew shop.

who is local.

...

 

[malt and barley blues]

Would seem to me it looks they may have over extended themselves as a new business, stock in and out, before its even in, allegedly. Maybe they are trying to claw some money in by short changing the purchasers of hops. Never heard of any bona fide LHBS having a shortfall in the hops or grain dept, usually a trifle over rather than up to 10% under.

 

[DU99]

that hop packing machine needs recalibrating...most places i have purchased from are just a tad over

 

[Schikitar]

I think the AA column on the price list is the year to year crop variance. If you take a look at the label on the vac packs you receive from Bintani it has the exact AA for that particular year/crop.

I contacted HopCo (not Bintani I know, but these guys are producers and test their crops) - what they told me seems to line up with what you've said here and that there are crop variations but the product received should have the actual (batch) AA% printed on the packaging.

But look, I'm not on some sort of fake news slash witch-hunt here, always happy to be a guinea pig, would just like to see some attention paid to these issues and addressed in the future! Clearly as customers we've all flagged this now and that should be sufficient for Kegland to move on it and I'm happy to leave it there.

I will, however, continue to keep asking when the Fermentasaurus 2 is arriving because that question is being deliberately avoided for, I can only assume, potentially concerning reasons. Let me tell you something about marketing - always keep the conversation going!

 

[fungrel]

I contacted HopCo (not Bintani I know, but these guys are producers and test their crops) - what they told me seems to line up with what you've said here and that there are crop variations but the product received should have the actual (batch) AA% printed on the packaging.

But look, I'm not on some sort of fake news slash witch-hunt here, always happy to be a guinea pig, would just like to see some attention paid to these issues and addressed in the future! Clearly as customers we've all flagged this now and that should be sufficient for Kegland to move on it and I'm happy to leave it there.

I will, however, continue to keep asking when the Fermentasaurus 2 is arriving because that question is being deliberately avoided for, I can only assume, potentially concerning reasons. Let me tell you something about marketing - always keep the conversation going!

Wouldn't it mean you'd have to write (or print) the alpha on the bags, instead of buy thousands of bags in bulk to save time?

I can't see why KL couldn't label the exact alpha, if the customer demands it. I for one wouldn't buy hops within an alpha range when I spend money on specialist equipment (so I can replicate a recipe exactly each time).

 

[S.E]

I contacted HopCo (not Bintani I know, but these guys are producers and test their crops) - what they told me seems to line up with what you've said here and that there are crop variations but the product received should have the actual (batch) AA% printed on the packaging.

For sure there are crop variations, weather and growing conditions affect AAs.

Bintani only put the AA range on the price list as a guide line, they can even go outside the guidline.

The exact AA of each variety is not important when the brewery is ordering hops but the brewer needs to know before adding to the kettle and that info is on the package.

Kegland being new to the hop business seem to have missed the AA info on the package but a call to Bintani should rectify that if they have binned the packages.

 

[S.E]

I can't see why KL couldn't label the exact alpha, if the customer demands it.

I would think they can and will as soon as they have the correct info.

 

[The Brewing Auditor]

Bintani are no longer the stockists for YCH hops, owing to the latter terminating the contract after a partial change of ownership of the former.

Cryer Malts (see brewsnews.com.au) are now stocking YCH hops - maybe contact them?

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. We have had a management discussion with regards to the raised issues. So based on what we are hearing from you guys we will do the following:

1. We will acquire and publish more precise AA% for now on where the information is available.
2. We will have to do some work with our semi-automatic packing machine but we will probably have to purchase a new machine. I think it will be possible to get the variance down to 5% with a different machine so we will aim to get within this range and pack hops with a +5% tolerance and we will probably increase the price by 5% to reflect this. This might take us 2-3 months to get a new machine, test the new machine and then start to pack hops with new machinery. When this change takes place we will also change the look of the bags so that all the new bags will be red in colour rather than the silver colour so the packaging is clearly distinguishable.
3. I do believe our hops are quite good value. If you have a look at our prices here and take into account a 10% packing variance I am confident that you will still find the pricing to be quite competitive: https://www.kegland.com.au/ingredients/hops/pellet-hops.html
With that said if anyone gets a bag that is short filled for any reason you always can contact us and we will can discount the bag accordingly or you always have the option to return the bag for full refund if you prefer.

If there is anything else we can do to improve the service or satisfaction regarding hops please let us know. One thing that we are committed to doing is taking on feedback from our customers and if we can improve then we will.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

Icemaster G40
Yes these icemaster G40 units do seem to be selling out really quickly. We seem to be getting a lot of customers use these for chilling Fermenters now and I suspect that this is the reason why the sales volumes have increased. We have another container of these being received on Friday. So you don't have to wait long.

Fermentasaurus Gen 2 - 27L
We have decided to make some further changes to this and we have re-designed the collection container. Previously you would probably notice the Fermentasaurus 1 has a collection container that had no easy way to release pressure. We did get some customers get hops block in the container then this could cause a bit of a hop explosion effect when the collection container was removed. So we have re-designed the collection container so it has 3 openings on the collection container. You can easily attach ball lock posts to these openings as well so this means you can more easily purge oxygen from the hops or whatever it is that you are dosing the container with. The other thing is that you can also dispense samples from this collection container or use it to oxygenate your wort. So this will give the collection container several additional functions. So sorry it's taken longer than we anticipated but we simply don't want to start selling the product until we are really happy with the end product.

Canning Machine
We have spent a lot of time working on new canning machines. The new canning machines will be available in Feb or March 2019. Home scale canning is really something that we are excited about. The price on the canning machine will be about $400.

 

[user3673]

2. We will have to do some work with our semi-automatic packing machine but we will probably have to purchase a new machine. I think it will be possible to get the variance down to 5% with a different machine so we will aim to get within this range and pack hops with a +5% tolerance

Seems like throwing the baby out with the bath water to purchase a new machine based on a 5% difference, especially when considering the weight of each individual pellet would make achieving a lower tolerance very difficult. The opportunity cost of reducing the 5% tolerance doesn't seem like it would result in a return on the investment over the operating life of the machine (given Australian home brew volumes).

Just a thought for you guys

 

[chesl73]

Maybe KegLand have already worked this out but if these machines are expensive surely it’s simpler and easier on a 100g bag of hops to set the target weight to 110g. Some will get 100g.....some will get up to 120g, on average overall assuming the weighing machine is random it will be 110g.
So if you sell X number of bags per month and the cost price of your hops per gram is Y then you are ‘giving away’ 10g per bag which would equate to a cost to the business of 10 * Y * X (per month). Now over so many years if this is a lot less than the cost of this new +/- 5% machine then just do that. You’ll still get people moaning that they have bought 100g of hops and are only getting 95g so I don’t see how that’s going to fix the problem.

 

[Dozer71]

2. We will have to do some work with our semi-automatic packing machine but we will probably have to purchase a new machine. I think it will be possible to get the variance down to 5% with a different machine so we will aim to get within this range and pack hops with a +5% tolerance and we will probably increase the price by 5% to reflect this. This might take us 2-3 months to get a new machine, test the new machine and then start to pack hops with new machinery. When this change takes place we will also change the look of the bags so that all the new bags will be red in colour rather than the silver colour so the packaging is clearly distinguishable.
.

Or you could just put the packets on a balance to check the weight when packing to ensure they are right. If under, send them back to repack. That way underweight packets don't get sent and you are not out of pocket on a new machine. Might just need to get a balance near the packing area.

 

[S.E]

1. We will acquire and publish more precise AA% for now on where the information is available.

I looked at your web site earlier today and after posting above and saw the Alpha Acid in the description of all your hops are in fact precise. Was it only the packs sent out to customers that were not precise?

 

[altone]

I looked at your web site earlier today and after posting above and saw the Alpha Acid in the description of all your hops are in fact precise. Was it only the packs sent out to customers that were not precise?

Yes looks like they've already fixed the AA listings - before it was a range rather than a value.
Can't say they are not trying to address issues.

 

[bbqzookeeper]

Don't worry fella's, I recently invested in a brand new wallet, so I'm paying all invoices +/- 10%. Retailers will understand - you lot are making a big fuss over nothing!

 

[Nullnvoid]

There may be some that are still not happy with them, but you can't say they are not realising there is a problem, listening and then trying to rectify the problem.

Maybe lay off them a bit or just don't post and follow it up directly with Kegland. This thread (and AHB) was going alright there for a moment....well a couple days anyway.